Technology and the Middle Ages

As published in the White Birth newsletter
Rokeclif, Northshield, March 2009

The Medieval Machine: The Industrial Revolution of the Middle Ages

Jean Gimpel

Working at a bookshop, I can’t help but note that as many shelves of books on history as we have, there are just as many shelves devoted specifically to military history. Whether due to the plethora of documentation or human nature, often history has focused on war and victors. In classes it is too often the place and date of battles that we are asked to memorize and the wonder of the full tapestry of history is lost. Jean Gimpel has taken a little studied facet of the history of Western civilization and expounded his findings into a book with a refreshing change of focus.

Beyond dismissing the stereotype of ‘dark ages’, Gimpel argues that the breadth of inventions and advances seen in the middle ages outpaced what later came during the Renaissance and in fact should be seen as the true Industrial Revolution of Western history. He covers first medieval energy sources and the harnessing of water and wind power. The emphasis is on how the water mills, dams, and windmills of the middle ages taped the potential of these energies to a far greater degree that the works of the early Roman Empire. Given the general notion of the Middle Ages being a low time between two greater periods of history, Gimpel often makes a point of the industry of the Middle Ages outshining the supposed glory of Roman era.

Agriculture and mining are each given a chapter to showcase the advances of the Middle Ages. Within each topic he focuses on the strides made to increase crop yield and to streamline labor practices. The author contrasts Rome’s use of slave labor and enjoyment of a milder climate to the technological drive of the Middle Ages impelled by a harsher climate and lower population density. He sees the adage of “what does not kill a person makes one stronger” at work in Western Europe.

Gimpel goes further than a simple history of European technology to give a social assessment of the Middle Ages that is far more optimistic than most. He highlights aspects of society, such as miners and stone workers, who grew in status and wealth. While most teachings on the Middle Ages paint the picture of a rigid society with a tight focus on religion, this book focuses on free thinkers and inventors. Indeed, the author makes the claim that free thought and inventiveness actually declined with the onset of the Renaissance. In large part this claim is based on the idea of advances during the Renaissance being focused on the waging of war rather than the betterment of daily life and society. While I wasn’t convinced of this broad point, the book does provide a wealth of new information and interesting views I’ve not found elsewhere.

A goodly amount of space at both the front and end of the book is spent comparing the decline of the Middle Ages with what he sees as a decline of our current society. As this book was written thirty years ago, take away what you will from his modern day tie ins. The topic of Gimpel’s book was fascinating and his tract well researched. I fully intend to read more on the matter of industrial archeology prior to the better known, steam driven, Industrial Revolution and if this aspect of history interests others I would say to give The Medieval Machine a read through.

Amata Cromwell

Readings for Basic Persona Work

As Published in the White Birch newsletter
Rokeclif, Northshield, October 2008

At some point amidst attending shire meetings, helping at events and enjoying A&S gatherings each of us tackles the challenge of creating a persona. For some it’s a simple matter selecting a name they like, maybe a time and a place, and calling it good. They aren’t looking to root it into a grander picture or to delve too deeply into the matter. For others of us though the concept of a persona is a daunting challenge, our desire to bring a medieval character fully to life hampered by a lack of knowledge or even an idea of where to begin. To this SCAdian I would hand two books: The Timetables of History by Bernard Grun and The Illustrated Book of Heraldry by Stephen Slater.

The first, The Timetables of History, is not a standard book one reads cover to cover or a chapter at a time. Rather, it is a chart more than 600 pages long charting events of human history. The spectrum covered includes politics, literature, music, science and daily life. If one is at a loss for an inspiring year or wants to have a better idea of what occurred in their persona’s lifetime, this is an ideal starting point. The facts are brief and the format is logical. Many time tables I’ve seen divide their lists by culture or continent and run the various strands parallel to each other. This book places worldwide events together, separating them out only by year and subject. Rather than be a confusing muddle it allows the lengthy chart to retain its simple and easy to use format.

The very length of Timetables is something of a drawback; only about one third of the book is applicable to SCAdian needs. The data is not interpreted, sources are not listed due to the enormity of space such would require, and this book alone will not complete a persona story. Its true value is in the sparking of ideas and confirming of facts, both especially useful functions to new SCAdians.

The second book, The Illustrated Book of Heraldry is a solid introduction to heraldry at large. It may be read cover to cover if one wishes or certain chapters of interest may be read in isolation. The three foci of the book are the history, language and use of heraldry. Such are of course very broad subjects in and of themselves but this title serves as a general over view, excellent for someone with little or no prior knowledge. The layout is bold, easy to read and quite attractive with many color pictures to clearly illuminate what is spoken of in the text.

As a general reference book, Heraldry does not stay within SCA bounds, either of time or of our heraldic rules. As well as the history of heraldry, this book does spend some time on modern heraldry in both its design and its uses. The SCA maintains its own set of heraldic rules, exceptions and guidelines that this source, of course, does not cover. It is however a solid start to a beautiful subject and, as long as its limitations are kept in mind, a wonderful resource when first pondering the design of one’s own SCAdian arms.